The ultimate battle
by sammycrusinix
Summary: Meet maria, she is the newest memeber of the bladebreakers. But what happens when someone from the past comes back to change their happy future? Will the bladebreakers have the power to fight something they once held dear? I do Not own anything!
1. How it began

She woke up drenched in sweat as rain came pouring down her open window. She didn't know whether it was the storm that woke her or the ferocity of her dream. "W...What was that?" she asked herself as she sat up trying to recall her dream, or nightmare, she wasn't sure. She remembered how in her dream she was with her father and her friends the bladebreakers. They were all together and happy, but then everything changed. The happy the picture that she had created was melting, black flames engulfing everything that was good and happy. Maria heard laughing, as if killing her good dream was the best of fun. She grew dizzy trying to remember what happened afterward, but the only thing she knew was she had a bad feeling about it. ]

Maria had known the bladebreakers for three years now, though to some it wasn't a long time she knew everything about them. Walking towards Tyson's house she was lost in thought, thoughts about her dream and the bad feeling that was still nagging at her. She was so lost in thought that she didn't see the beyblade come spinning wildly out of control towards her. Next thing she knew she was on the dirt looking straight at what looked to be Tyson's beyblade, Dragoon sitting next to her. "Ouch, that really hurt." Maria said as Kenny, Max, Ray, and Tyson came running out of the dojo gates. "Are you ok?" max asked offering her a hand. Some how during the time she fell and the time she got up, her hair had positioned itself in front of her face. So as she was dusting herself off she had to continually move her hair back into its original position, which she wouldn't of, had to do if she had not been so lost in thought that she forgot to tie back her hair. She had also picked up Tyson's beyblade, "here you go, no harm done." She said handing it to Tyson. Tyson gave his thanks, but suddenly got a terrified look on his face. Maria turned around to see Hilary standing not far behind her, an angry look crossing her features. "You knocked her over with your blade again, didn't you?!" she said as Tyson took off running down the street.

By the time she was finished with Tyson he had a gigantic bump on his head and immediately apologized to Maria with Hilary watching not far behind. Maria couldn't help but giggle a little as she watched ray and max battle. Their blades Driger and Draciel going at each other like enemies with a grudge. With one final strike max hit ray out of the dish, "yahoo! I'm totally on a roll today! This new blade is awesome Kenny thanks." Max said jumping up and down. Kenny was a genius when it came to the construction and research of beyblades. He looked over at max from over his laptop. "Don't get to excited max that's only a proto type. But thanks for the compliment." He said as he looked back down to his computer apparently analyzing the data he just collected. "But I need more data on the progression of your guys' bitbeasts in order to make a blade that won't break. But i`m just not getting the results I need when you battle each other." He said frustrated. "so what does that mean chief?" asked ray sitting next to him, "well basically one of you needs to battle someone other then each other." He replied. Everyone thought for a moment, but came up with nothing, Tyson just got a headache. Everyone they knew was either to busy or no where near them. "Why not let Maria try?" said Kai. "W…what?!" cried Maria, "yeah that could work, I hardly have any data on you or Artemis." Replied Kenny happily. "B…but I-I-I I can't I mean…" she stuttered out. She really didn't have a reason why she couldn't but her own low self esteem.

Everyone decided to ignore her pleas and push her towards the dish, when she was finally standing in front of it she decided that she might as well try. She pulled her blade Artemis from her leg pocket; she stuck the rip cord into the lancher then her blade. Tyson started the count down, as he yelled the last number both of there blades slammed into the dish. "Lets go Draciel!" max yelled as his blade came hurdling towards Artemis, but at the last minute Artemis dodged and attacked Draciel from behind. "Go artemis!" Maria yelled, suddenly the battle, max, everything. It was all swallowed up by the same black flames from her dream. That wasn't the only similarity, the voice was there also, continuously calling her name behind her. When she turned to see who it was, it all disappeared; she was back battling with max, who was currently winning. "Artemis, flame spiral tempest!" She called as a black wolf appeared out of her blade and headed straight for Draciel in a fiery whirlwind, catching max off guard and sending Draciel flying out of the dish. Maria stood there mortified by what just happened, she actually won, true it was just a practice battle. But she won! Of course instead of doing what any normal person would do to celebrate such an occasion such as jump up and down or say yay, instinct took over. "I-I sorry!" she cried bowing over and over again, this reaction of course gained her looks of shock from all of the people around her, except kai, he just kind of raised an eye brow. "W…what?" she asked as they all continued to stare at her, completely speechless, Artemis meanwhile jumped from the dish to her waiting hand. When no one would answer her she finally decided to give up and walk back to her original sitting place. "Did you get enough data chief?" max finally asked, breaking the silence. "Hmm oh, oh yeah I did. Thank you, Maria." He replied as he began to type on his computer. Everyone decided it was time to take a break, max and ray spent there time watching Kenny continuously tap on his computer, while kai continued to do what he usually did, stand around looking deep in thought. As for Tyson and Hilary, they spent their time arguing over, well everything. Everyone knew they liked each other, not that any of them would ever admit it to the other.

Maria of course decided to spend her time sketching. She never thought she was very good at much of anything until she tried this, which she was incredibly good, she had the ability to sketch anything she just saw, even if it just lasted a moment. But today instead of sketching one of her friends during battle she sketched her dream. 'it might make this stupid feeling go away.' She thought as she drew each flame and each moment and person with precision, she was so concentrated on what she was doing she didn't notice someone standing behind her looking over her shoulder. "Wow, Maria that's kind of creepy." Said Daichi, Maria gasped as she jumped from her sitting position and dropped her sketch book in the mud. "Da…Daichi?! Geeze you scared me! Don't sneak up on people." She said holding her chest to calm her racing heart. "Hehehe soooorrry!" he replied laughing and jumping up and down. Daichi had gotten homesick a little while back and decided to travel back to the island both to see his father and to get some training in. "but seriously Maria is that like a new project you are working on or what, cuz that was a really creepy picture." He said crossing his arms. "Da…Daichi, its nothing really I…." she stopped short as she noticed kai picking up her sketch book from the mud and looking at the now very muddy picture. "Please don't." she cried as she took the book from his hands. Now once again she got the shocked eyes of everyone around her staring. "I-I-I'm sorry. I have to go." She said quickly as she ran from the dojo, she ran and ran till she couldn't even run anymore. 'Why? Why did I do that? That was so stupid. I mean what am I freaking out about? It was just a stupid nightmare, its not like anything is going to come from it.' She thought as she slowed down to a complete stop.

Maria heard her name being called behind her, she turned to see that all of them had followed her, "Maria, please wait. We really are sorry, it's our fault. We didn't realize what tomorrow was." Ray said with an apologetic look on their faces. 'Oh, right. I completely forgot. Tomorrow is the anniversary of my mother and fathers deaths.' Truthfully sense she met the bladebreakers it hadn't really affected her as much as it used too. "Oh, hehe yeah. Yeah that's it, but it's alright. Even after all this time it still hurts to think about. But still I had no right to yell at you kai. And for that I am sorry." She said as she bowed in apology. She truly was sorry for yelling but the rest was just an excuse to not tell them, they might think she was going crazy, she actually thought she was too. She woke from her thought as she felt someone rubbing her head. She looked up, it was kai, "come on, let's get you home. It's getting dark." He said as he started walking down the street. She waved goodbye to her friends, and ran to catch up with kai. Even though they were walking by a busy street, there were hardly any cars. So the walk was really quiet, Maria had no idea what to say to him, or why he was always so nice to her. But it didn't matter; it was always nice when ever it was just them two. The quiet wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, it was the kind of quiet you need when you need to think about things or you just liked being with the other person so much it didn't matter if you talked about the weather or about nothing at all. Maria blushed, why was she thinking like that, obviously kai couldn't possibly feel that way about her. He said it himself, 'his only love is for the sport of beyblade.' Her heart started to hurt at the thought; she decided to think about something else. Suddenly she walked right into something hard and fell to the ground, "ouch! Again seriously?!" she said angrily. "We're here." Kai stated as he pulled her up from the ground. "Oh, thank you." She said as she started walking towards the front door. Kai watched as she entered the house and closed the door behind her. He turned around and slowly started making his way back to Tyson's dojo. As he was walking he noticed something he hadn't before. Someone was watching him, he could feel it. He turned around and looked back to Maria's house. There in her bedroom was a figure, it was wearing all black and had eyes the color of blood. Kai glared at the figure as it started to smile an evil grin. Kai blinked and it was gone, 'that was definitely odd..' he said as he turned and continued walking back to the dojo the figure plaguing his thoughts.


	2. Taken

Chapter 2- Taken

Maria had just closed the door behind her with a soft click, after kai had walked her home. Immediately she felt a chill go up her spine, and her started racing as if she had just come back from running a mile.

The house around her seemed to be eerily quiet like it was somehow threatening, not just that she swore she heard some quiet laughing coming from her upstairs bedroom.

Despite all this Maria took a timid step away from the front door, ignoring the part of her brain that was screaming for her to run through it. Instantly the feeling disappeared.

Maria let out a sigh, 'Geez, I'm so paranoid about a nightmare i`m starting to imagine things' she tried to laugh but came out as a deep tired sigh.

Slowly she made her way up the stairs to her room. Once there she proceeded to slip off the blue jeans and black short sleeved t-shirt that hugged her body, she replaced them with a pair of black pajama pants and a white shirt that read 'BBA'

She looked down at the jeans she wore, and saw there were still traces of dirt on the back, thinking of that memory made her smile.

'I hope it doesn't rain again tonight…of course how fitting that would be for tomorrow.' She thought as she climbed into her bed and lay down on her mountain of pillows. She blinked a couple of times before letting sleep consume her.

Fire. Burning. Screams. Laughing. Cries for help. Eyes. All of these things and more plagued Maria's once peaceful dreams that night.

She watched as everything was being burned to ashes, watching in horror she couldn't move, couldn't breathe. It was like she was watching through someone else's eyes.

Her heart nearly stopped as she saw her friends, lying on the ground horrified looks in their empty lifeless eyes. Suddenly she was in the air, watching as something came towards her, before she knew it; Gray determined eyes were looking into hers. 'Kai….' She thought alarmed

Mara could feel what was going to happen to him, what this thing wanted to do to him. She heard it begin laughing as it raised a hand and knocked him away like a fly. "Noooo!! Stop! Please!!" she cried as it flew towards kai's falling form, she felt time seem to stand still as the thing took its hand and slammed it right through kai's heart.

She began to scream and cry hysterically, as she felt the blood wetting her hand, the beating of his dying heart through her fingertips.

Suddenly she was awake; she held her hands to her mouth to keep the scream from erupting from her throat. Her ability breath seemed to be forgotten as she heard a deep growling laughter from right next to her.

Slowly she turned her head to see a black cloaked figure standing right next to her. Eyes the color of blood, laughing a horrible laugh that ceased to sound human. "W..Who are you" she asked failing to put any menace in her voice.

"Did you enjoy your dream?" it replied laughing.

"Answer me!" she cried,

It jumped on the bed after she said that and proceeded to straddle her and bound her hands to her sides. She couldn't speak as she looked into its eyes, "in time, my sweet." It hissed as it licked her cheek with its tongue as lightning struck outside and rain pelted her window.

Then it was gone.

Maria's heart was still racing, and her breathing became erratic. She didn't move for several minutes in case it was still in the room, even though she knew it wasn't.

Finally she got up and ran to her adjacent bathroom, turned on the tap as hot as it would go and began rubbing her face with a washcloth. She wanted to puke, as she attempted to wash away the feel of that things spit from her face.

Even after her face was clean she continued to scrub at her cheek unable to shake the disgusting feel of its tongue on her face, as tears rolled down her cheeks.

The next morning, Maria awoke in her bathroom, her arms draped over bathtub. 'Ouch, now if there was ever a bad place to sleep, this would be it.' She thought as she tried to relieve her aching muscles.

After relieving some of the kinks, she returned to her room, memories of the past night entered her mind sending shivers going up her spine. 'See, now these stupid nightmares are getting ridiculous. I'm actually starting to think they are real.' She thought as she pulled her clothes from her closet.

She took a quick shower before, putting on her black jeans, and a black tank top. Also holding true to her color scheme was a black jacket that stopped just short of the bottom of her chest. Before leaving she took her beyblade pack and attached it to her thigh and the keys to her mothers old CBR. Normally she would just walk to Tyson's, but she had to stop by the BBA's headquarters to see if Mr. Dickenson needed anything done.

The drive down there was relatively quick due to the lack of traffic and the weather. It was just plain depressing, clouds hung in the sky and the wind blew cold and smelled of the rain that had fallen the night before.

When she arrived at the BBA headquarters it was incredibly quiet, which was odd due to the fact that the world championships were coming up. People where usually running around, making calls with papers flying everywhere. Basically chaos. This of course was the polar opposite of that place.

With a shrug she continued further into the building and up an elevator to the top. Stepping out she heard the same eerie quiet from downstairs. 'Is it like a office-wide day off?' she thought conitinuing down the hall till she reached a door with "CEO" written in bold letters.

Maria could hear voices coming from the other side of the door, one male one female. 'Hmm, he must have a visitor' she thought as she opened the door, an action she would soon regret. On the other side was in fact Mr. Dickenson but also the women she hoped she would never have to see again.

"Ooooh look who it is! Maria long time no see darling! How have ya been?" asked a shrill chuwaua like voice that could only belong to her blonde haired, big breasted, money grubbing step-mom. Emphasize on the "former".

Anger rose in Maria at the sight of this spawn of the universe. The whole reason her father had left her alone so many years before. The witch had pushed him head first into his research just so she could reap the rewards. In the end, it only caused him to have a meltdown, and disappear from his only daughter's life. The strains of losing his only love proving to be too much for even him.

"Maria, good to see you. I'd like you to meet Veronica Charles." Said Mr. Dickenson motioning to the women standing in front of him.

She looked at her with disgust and rage filling her eyes. "We've met. For what purpose is she here exactly?", 'other then to add a cherry on top of a freakin perfect day' Maria asked and thought, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"Well darling you see i`m here to help give the BBA a little peace of mind." Veronica stated simply, as she began to walk towards Maria. "And how prey tell, would…could you do that?!" she replied menace lacing Maria's voice.

"By making a beyblade police force, with Mr. Dickenson's approval of course." She said standing barely an inch away from Maria. "Would you excuse me, while I explain the details of my plan to Maria?" she asked while pushing said girl out into the hall. 'Obviously he really doesn't have a choice.' She thought annoyed.

As soon as she closed the office door, her real character showed. "My my, aren't you are the persistent little brat. Listen here 'honey' because of that nut job you had for a dad, I lost everything. So now I'm gonna take everything from you. And I'm gonna start with this sport you love sooooo much. Then I'm going to get those friends of yours to hate your guts." She stated patting Maria on the head.

She quickly drew her blade and launcher and took her stance. "Don't you dare touch me you ugly witch!" Maria yelled holding her blade to Veronica's throat.

Apparently Maria's shouts could be heard even through Mr. Dickenson's closed door, because he came rushing out of his door only to be met with Maria's current situation. One where she was not the victim, but the assailant.

"M…Maria! What is going on out here?!" he asked incredulously, "put your beyblade away or I will be forced to call security." He said attempting to stand between her and the wicked witch herself.

"B...But Mr. Dickenson, she…she said…" Maria was cut off by Mr. Dickenson's hand shooting up in the air, an automatic command to be silent.

"Oh, thank you for saving me Mr. Dickenson! She just went wild; saying that she was gonna hurt me!" Veronica stated wiping crocodile tears from her eyes. "And all I was trying to do was make friends." She said bursting into a full crying frenzy.

"Maria, you should be ashamed of yourself! This is not how we treat guests at the BBA. I expected better of you." He spat out, while trying to console the crying veronica.

Suddenly Maria felt two strong hands grip her arms. Panic filled Maria as memories of the beast from her nightmares filled her mind. Before she was actually aware of it herself, she was lifted off the ground and carried away from the misunderstanding before she had a chance to rectify it.

The arms where now tightly wrapped around Maria's waist, before she could contain herself she screamed the one thing she knew was true with all of her heart. "Sa-i vina!!" it was true, if not for veronica her life wouldn't have been turned upside down and inside out without warning.

"Maria! Stop! It's alright!! Stop screaming, what the hell is she saying Anyway?!" she heard someone yell through her ringing ears. "Du-te dracu '!!" she yelled before her voice finally failed her.

She sat their hanging in a currently unknown persons arm, breathing heavily. "Pune-mă jos" she said breathlessly. "Maria seriously switch to a language we understand." Maria turned her head towards the voice. Maria turned her head towards the voice, above her she saw was Rick. "I said put me down. I don't like being picked up."

"What the heck kind of language was that" Rick said putting her down gently so that she was standing again. Maria looked around and found she was back in the lobby, "Romanian." She said simply. "Why did you do that?" she asked incredulously.

Rick just scoffed and started walking towards the exit, "looked like you were in a nasty situation. Not to mention that it wasn't getting any better with you standing there stuttering." He replied, she thought about it for a minute, 'he is right, so I guess I owe him one.' She thought smiling.

"Alright, I get it. Thanks Rick" she said flashing him one of her first genuine smiles in days. Unseen to her, his lightly tanned skin took on a pink tone. "Oh, I gotta go! I'll see you later Rick." She said running out the door, "hey, you can repay me by having a battle against my rock bison!", she just laughed, "your on!" she said as she jumped on her bike and drove away.

By the time she made it to Tyson's dojo it was already raining pretty hard. After parking her bike near the entrance she quickly walked to the cover of the dojo. Leaving her wet shoes on the front step she walked to where she knew the guys would be practicing when the weather got bad, inside the main dojo.

As she came closer to the door shouting could be heard from inside, 'must be one heck of a battle.' She thought as suddenly the wall beside her blew out towards her. Next thing she knew she was laying in the mud her feet propped up on the wood floor of the dojo and a sharp pain shooting though her head like knifes.

'Ok, I lied. This is the cherry on top of my day.' She thought as she attempted to sit up, a warm liquid sliding down her face. 'What the…' reaching up to her head she brought her hand to her face, blood was dripping down her fingertips. Her heart started pounding, panicked she looked around frantically for what hit her. Before she could see it, a hand was placed over her eyes, blocking her view.

"Shhh, relax, breath." She knew this voice, "kai?" she asked timidly. "Oh man! We did it this time." said another voice, "what do you we?! It was all fault for being so reckless!" said what sounded like Michael, her heart pounded faster as she felt more blood side down her face as she was picked up and placed back on the floor of the dojo. "Don't just stand there! Get me some bandages, rubbing alcohol, and a washcloth." Kai said

She heard shuffling of feet running back and forth. "Why is he covering her eyes?" said Michael, "she freaks out at the sight of someone else's blood, what do you think she would do if she saw her own?" said Tyson. After everyone stopped running around and kai was patching up her head, she finally asked. "Ce naiba happend?!" nobody said anything. 'Oops.' "Sorry, I said what happened? Why did the wall blow up?" she said again, the washcloth that was put over her eyes was removed and she looked to see Michael and Tyson, both looking at her with sorry expressions.

"Well, Tyson and Michael both got a little crazy while battling and it kind of went through the wall right into you." Explained ray calmly. Maria sighed, "That figures I guess. How did the blades fair?" she asked sitting up, "great, no damage. But we are really sorry Maria." Replied Tyson, Maria stood up a little wobbly at first, but with a little support from kai she made it. "Guys seriously, stop. Its fine, trust me i`ve been through worse." She looked over to the wall next her, the hole they put through it was taller the she was.

"Of course you know you're on your own, when you fix this wall. Because if grandpa see's it, your toast." She said smiling. Panicked looks came over both Tyson and Michael's features, she watched as they both quickly got up and started attempting to fix the wall. A shiver ran through her as the wind blew past, "get inside." Said kai, she turned her pale blue eyes towards his dark purple ones. She turned away and blushed deeply, "A...Alright." she replied quickly walking to the nearby door and going through it.

After the wall had been successfully repaired and both received though beatings from both Emily and Hilary, they all sat and attempted to rest and warm up from the cold. Maria had to barrow one of Tyson's sweatshirts as her shirt and jacket were completely covered in a mixture of blood and mud. "Say Kenny, why are you so quiet today?" asked Emily, "huh? Oh sorry, I've been up all night checking my systems." He replied with a yawn.

"Checking for what?" Emily asked concerned. He sighed before replying, "Someone broke into my lab last night." Silence filled the room as everyone looked to the chief, to stun to speak. "Did you see who?" Maria asked, feeling she already knew the answer. "Well it was just after mid-night, I went up to the kitchen to get some water, then the power went out. I went back down to my lab to see if the backup generators kicked in when I saw someone standing over my computer. I shouted at it, and when it turned around all I could see was its eyes. They were the most horrible thing I ever saw; they were the color of blood."

Maria's stomach churned, 'so it wasn't just a bad nightmare…' she thought grimly. "It seemed to just disappear into thin air, so I've been checking all my systems to see what if it took anything." He finished with another great yawn. "I don't know, chief are you sure it wasn't just a bad dream?" asked ray.

"Kenny wouldn't make things up ray. Although the eyes are pretty hard to believe Kenny." Emily said pondering the thought. Maria could barely sit there and listen as her worst nightmare became real. "Grrr… enough of this scary stuff. Let's eat!!" said Tyson, without warning. Not a moment sooner Hilary came in and announced that lunch was ready. Everyone quickly shuffled out of the room, all except for kai and Maria.

Maria still sat with her back against the wall eyes closed, attempting to calm her nauseated stomach. Without warning kai took her hand from its place on her stomach and placed something in it. She looked at her hand, on it held a simple black box. "Open it." Said kai, she slowly opened the little box. Inside was possibly the most beautiful necklace she ever saw.

It was a gold locket in the shape of a heart with a beautiful diamond on the inside of the heart. She lifted it out of the box and held it in front of her face. "Why…" she said silently. Kai bent down to her level and lightly tapped her head. "Your birthday dummy." He replied, tears pricked at the back of her eyes, 'oh yeah, my birthday is tomorrow.' She thought as kai took the necklace and fastened it around her neck.

"T…Thank you." She said gratefully, warm arms were wrapped around her as she was pulled in an embrace. She blushed deeply as she looked into his eyes just inches from hers. "K…kai..." she was cut off as his lips crashed into hers. His dominance in the kiss surprised her little, she gasped as she felt a cold hand slide up the backside of her sweatshirt.

Kai didn't let the opportunity pass as his tongue explored her mouth, memorizing every taste. Maria could taste the cinnamon tea he must have drunk earlier mixed with mint. "Hey if you guys don't hurry Tyson's…." Michael had apparently been sent to get them and walked right in on this scene. Kai released her mouth, but kept hold of her in his arms.

"Oh… sorry I didn't realize….ummm I will just leave now." He said quickly as he left the room a deep blush forming on his face. Of course his blush paled in comparison to the one on Maria's face. 'Oh my god! What did i…' she thought frantically. Kai had obviously seen the confusion on her face because he released his hold on her and began walking out of the room.

"Sorry, I got carried away." He said opening the door and walking through, leaving Maria sitting there alone. 'I can't stay here.' She thought as she quickly got up and ran out of the door, jumping on her bike and driving away as fast as it could go. 'God I'm such an idiot! How could I just lead him on like that?' she thought tears streaming down her face.

She drove for hours, just going and going. Finally she ran out of gas in the middle of the country side. Even then she didn't stop, she got off the bike and walked and walked until her feet finally collapsed under her. Looking around she saw it was nearly dusk. The rain had stopped but left behind a cold chill she couldn't shake. Leaning against a rock she also saw she was on top of what looked like a mountain.

"Hmm…how nice it is to see you again." said a voice from beside her. Maria didn't have to turn to see who it was, it was him. The winged creature from her dreams and Kenny's lab. She just laughed, "And what do you want? To make me feel worse then I already feel?" she said staring it straight in the face. "Awww, did you not enjoy your kiss. It was from the one you truly love was it not?" he replied tauntingly. "Du-te dracu '" she said anger lacing her voice.

The creature just let out a growl like laugh and took a stance she knew all to well, he wanted to battle her. She sighed; "if you wanted to battle me why didn't you just come out and say it?" she asked standing and bringing out her blade, Artemis. Silently counting down she pulled on the rip cord as hard she could releasing her blade, sending it crashing into her opponents. "Meteor petals!" she yelled as Artemis appeared out of her blade sending a crashing wave of fiery petals his way. He just smirked, "Black galaxy turbo twister!" a black whirlwind came crashing into Artemis.

"Blazing Tempest!" She could feel his power, it was surprisingly similar to someone she knew, but darker. Both of their attacks crashed into each other, battling for supremacy. Suddenly combining into one, sending both crashing into Artemis, and Maria. She heard a horrible howl, and watched as Artemis faded away, then darkness covered her vision. She could feel herself being lifted up and carried away. To where she didn't know, "Kai…" she whispered before losing all conciseness.

Mean while, back at the Granger dojo; kai sat around a table reading a book. Suddenly lightning struck in the distance and the cup to which he was drinking tea with broke in half. Part of kai knew he should ignore it, but another part told him something very bad had happened and that this was only the beginning of a much worse fate.


	3. Loss

Chapter 3- Loss

"Tyson! Tyson, wake up! It's an emergency!" cried a distressed Kenny; a groan was given as his response. "Here Kenny, try this. BREAKFASTS READY!!" yelled Hilary into Tyson's sleeping ear. "I'll take 16 pancakes drenched in syrup!" he said quickly sitting up.

"Ha! See that's how you do it Kenny." Hilary smiled with contentment as Tyson glared at her, "Hilary please, this isn't the time. Guys you have to see the news." Kenny shouted failing around wildly. They all jumped to their feet as they heard a crash from down the hall. And someone started yelling.

"Where is she?! Why didn't see ever come home?!" yelled at frantic short black haired man with bangs covering the left side of his face, wearing a yukata. This is Maria's foster father, Shimon Asato. Max was the first to step toward the usually calm man, which now seemed to have fallen to pieces on Tyson's front step.

"Mr. Asato, what's wrong?" he asked figuring that if he was acting like this something bad must have happened. "That's what I've been trying to tell you guys! Looks at this!' said Kenny pulling up a newscast on his laptop.

"Recently an old CBR was found in the country side completely empty of both gas and a driver. After looking up the licenses plate police found it belonged to a Maria Kimihiro, assistant of the BBA's Chairman Mr. Dickenson and daughter of renowned professor Kimihiro. Police now fear the worst as reports from locals say that a large explosion occurring on top of mount. Tana. Police have yet to discover what caused such an explosion or the remains of her body. So people are left wondering, is this a case of a person gone missing or a much more sinister plot?"

The screen went black as Kenny turned off his computer. They all sat there staring at the now blank screen, too stunned to say anything or even to breath. Kai was the first to break the silence, "We have to go there…" he stated, silently everyone agreed.

It was a quiet trip to the mountain as everyone was lost in their own thoughts. When they at last arrived they were greeted by the equally grim faces of Lee, Gary, Mariah, Kevin, Rick, Eddie, and Emily.

"What are you all doing here?" asked Ray astonished, Lee was the one who answered, "Well, we all apparently saw that news broadcast, originally we weren't going to come, but Rena said insisted that we all be here."

Every face then turned to look at Ray's younger sister, Rena. She was very similar to Maria. She had long black hair that stopped just short of her waist when her hair was down; it was now in low hanging pig tails, and like Ray she had a fierce loyalty to both her team and her bitbeast. The only differences were that she was as tall as Daichi, and held a deathly Emerald gaze that matched her mysterious powers.

"Come on, I'll explain on the way." She stated before turning and walking up the path towards the mountain. They all trailed behind her waiting for their explanation. "After a while she stopped, but still she didn't say anything. "Grrr… say something already! The tension is killing me!!" yelled Tyson.

Rena sighed, "Tyson, please don't be so dramatic. Now this actually started a few weeks ago. I was training off by myself when a mysterious being approached me. He attempted to battle me, but I managed to fend him off. What was truly strange was this boys eyes, they were color of blood." She started beginning to walk again.

"But-but that's?" started Kenny, "Exactly what you saw in your lab the other night?" Rena finished. 'And in Maria's room that day....' thought Kai. "Well, you see. We are not the only ones who have encountered this strange boy; he has been sighted by bladders all around the world." They all gasped, "That's not the scary part guys. Anyone who has come into contact with this thing has disappeared without a trace."

Rena stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide. "Rena, What is it?" said Mariah, she just smiled, "Yes." Was all she said before breaking out into a dead run straight towards the mountain. "Come on, before he vanishes!" She yelled behind her, they looked at each other, deciding whether to follow or not, when kai burst through the group and made his way towards the mountain, their decision already being made they all ran.

Rena was known for many things, but her most renowned ability was that she could speak to bitbeasts. Because of this nobody dared doubt her knowledge, as they ran behind her and kai. They were near the top of the mountain by the time Rena and Kai finally stopped. They looked in horror at the path ahead of them.

It was like someone melted a chunk of the mountain off, they could even feel the residual energy of Artemis's most powerful attack. "I asked that the police not touch this area till I've finished" she said jumping into the hole and started to dig for something.

The clouds parted then, and a stream of sun light shone down on the very hole they were all staring at, kai noticed something shimmering in the dirt. 'Could that be…' he thought also jumping in the hole. "Aha! Found ya!" said Rena as kai bent down and picked a gold chain with a diamond locket out of the dirt.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Max already knowing the answer. "Yep. This is what remains of Artemis." She said holding up a deformed mass that apparently used to be a beyblade. "Hmmph, so what are we supposed to learn from that?" said Lee frustrated.

"Not we per say, me. With a little help from Artemis I'm going to see what really happened here." She replied popping the blade into her launcher and releasing it. It spun unevenly at first then began to circle around Rena.

They could all feel the heat coming from the area around her, a howl was heard, and then Artemis appeared.

The black wolf circled the area around them, searching for Maria, but to no avail. '_What has happened here? Where is Maria?' _ Artemis echoed into their minds. "That is what we were hoping to find out from you. Maria has disappeared. Tell me can you sense her spirit at all?" replied Rena.

Artemis landed on the path and concentrated the flames around his legs and head suddenly flared in anger, covering her eyes she asked. "What is it?" '_I do not sense her spirit anywhere.' _ He howled in anger and sadness.

"Rena, what does that mean?" asked ray, "Well, as you know all bladders are connected to their respective bitbeasts through a spiritual link. There are only two ways this link can be severed; one is if the bitbeast disappears from this world. Another is if the bladder disappears." She replied grimly. "Artemis, I realize you are weak. But please can you show me the events that occurred here." She pleaded, he nodded, and fire rose up around them blocking any interference.

Everything was foggy at first, and then she heard Maria's voice and everything suddenly became clear. Through Artemis's eyes she watched Maria go to pieces, for what, she didn't know. But she could see tears running down her face. Then the scene changed.

Maria was sitting on the very mountain pass she was standing on. She was talking to someone; it was to dark to see who. Smiling Maria got to her feet and took her stance, in an instant the battle had begun.

Rena could feel the power emanating from her opponent, the same power she had recently faced herself. But there was something else now, something primeval about his energy.

She watched helplessly as Maria tried to fend off her most powerful attack. Rena still remembered how hard she worked to master that move. She figured if she could then in some tiny way she could be one step closer to catching up with the rest of her friends. She was always like that, always feeling like she wasn't strong enough, or good enough.

She was brought back from her thoughts as Maria's attack and her opponents merged into one, heading straight for Maria! She saw flames, and heard Maria's scream of pain before the vision blurred out and all she saw was the person who had done this to her.

He laughed a grizzly laugh, "Your friend is gone…. And you all are next." He said before the vision ended. Rena fell to the ground hard; feeling like the wind had been knocked from her body tears slowly streaming down her face.

Artemis let out a final anguished howl before slowly fading away. Rena heard muffled voices as she lay on the ground, and someone kept shaking her shoulder. Blinking she slowly got up and saw Ray's and everyone's worried looks. Her eyes filled with fresh tears and she started sobbing uncontrollably.

She felt someone embrace her, she clutched their shirt and cried into their chest. "W…Why?! What did she do to deserve such a fate?" she cried. "What did you see Rena? Asked Ray. Looking up she saw it was Ray's arms she was in.

"Maria's gone… killed by the flames of her own attack…" she said before breaking out into a new crying spree.

"Oh god. No, please tell me it isn't true." Cried Hilary into Tyson's chest, "She can't….i mean…she has to be…." Lee stumbled over his words as held Mariah in his arms. Rena felt sleep pulling at the edges of her mind as a hand was placed on her shoulder.

Looking up, she saw it was kai. "Who was it?" he asked sternly. "It…It was him. The boy with the blood colored eyes. He gave me a message. 'We are next.'" She said before slipping deep into unconciseness. Ray pulled her into his arms, got up and began his trek back down the path.

Kai clutched the locket in his hand, 'It's my fault this happened. If I hadn't lost control she might still be here. Why her? If he was after us, why didn't he just come at us instead of going through her first? It doesn't matter; I swear he will pay for this.' He thought as a single tear slowly made its way down his cheek, unseen.

**Omg! What's going to happen next?! I'd just like to say thanks to anyone who takes the time to read my story. Plzz Review and tell me how I'm doing. **


	4. Testing

Chapter 4- Testing

It was cold. That was the first she felt when she awoke from what felt like an endless dream. She couldn't remember much, just little pieces of memories all of them jumbled together.

So jumbled that none of them made sense, all she knew was that she was cold.

'That's odd….isn't it the middle of summer…'she thought opening her eyes. Everything was dark, it wasn't normal darkness though. It was like the darkness had substance, like if she reached out she could grasp it with her hands.

Suddenly another feeling shoved its way to the front of her mind. Pain. It was like little needles were coursing through veins, making little nicks as they worked their way through her blood.

She tried to feel around to find the cause, but noticed her hands were bound. When she attempted to move around instead, a white hot pain shot through her body.

It felt like her whole body was on fire, she tasted blood as she attempted to scream, all she wanted now was to curl up in a corner and make the pain go away.

Soft murmuring could be heard from all around her, even some slight chuckling. Finally the pain became too much and she was once again swallowed by the darkness.

A black haired man in a white lab coat stood emotionlessly in front of the tank that held his specimen. He watched as she flailed around and attempted to, what he could only guess was to scream. Only thing that came out was more blood.

Truly he was impressed, she had survived the primary testing without even waking up. "How is it going?" asked a stern voice from behind him.

He smiled, "excellent, she truly is the one, guess we have those brats the Bladebreakers to thank for making her this way." He took more noted then continued.

"The enzymes you had made will give her the energy required to carry it without her body failing….like the others." He finished as she again slipped into unconsciousness.

"Good, good. Everything is going as planned." Said the other man smiling. "I trust that you will not have a change of heart along the way, correct?" the man asked

The scientist just continued the notes he was taking. "Of course not, I have worked too hard to see my dream fall through the cracks because of some silly emotion." He replied grounding his teeth.

"Even if it is your own daughter?" he asked curiously. "My work is more important than some piece of trash that happens to carry my genes. This is what she was born for, nothing more, nothing less." He replied sternly.

The men smiled, "good, now start the synthesis process. I want my dear nephew to see what I have created out of this nothing he calls a friend." He laughed evilly as he walked away.

"_Maria…" _

She was in the dark again, she was numb. Not even the cold from before could be felt, "_Maria….open your eyes…" _there was a voice, calling to her.

Slowly she opened her eyes, and there standing before her was something she had only heard about from the guys. There before her with wings spread wide was the dark bitbeast.

Black Dranzer.

She tried to back away, but found she couldn't move. "_be at peace child. I mean no harm to my new host."_ He said softly.

"W…what do you mean, host?" she asked timidly. "_You will find out soon, but I must warn you of my great power." _ He replied inching his head closer to her face.

"I've heard stories of your power, that's why my friends locked you away." She said her voice shaking. "You are a very evil bitbeast. And I want nothing to do with you."

He laughed, at her or what she said Maria couldn't tell.

"_Is that what they told you? How mistaken they are. You see dear Maria, they attacked me first. I was simply protecting myself. Then they locked me away in this horrid place. Now is that fair, for them to lock away something that was simply trying to protect itself?" _he asked wrapping his wings around her.

Maria thought about it, she wasn't there so she couldn't say that what he said wasn't the truth. For all she knew it was. 'Then that would mean…..'

"_Besides, you're so called 'friends' don't care about you. In fact they are glad that you are gone."_ He said so close to her she could feel his breath on her skin, her eyes widened.' what…'

"_Don't believe me? Then I will show you…" _the scene suddenly changed and she was standing in Tyson's dojo. And sitting there on the steps was her friends. "Hey guys. I'm bac…"

Her sentence cut short as they started laughing, "Did you see the look on her face? It was classic!" said Tyson imitating a horrified face. "Yeah, it's about time someone took that whinny little brat out. '_Oh I'm Maria, my parents died so I get to be depressed all the time. Oh pity me please!_ 'Said Max laughing.

Maria could feel her heart breaking in two. "Hey kai, did you get that thing back from her?" asked Ray, kai nodded, "it was a mistake giving it to her, and she deserved what she got. Artemis was even glad when he was released from her."

Maria felt around her neck and noticed the necklace he held wasn't around her neck. Her breath hitched in her throat. Tears made their way down her face; she gripped her chest it hurt so bad she thought her heart would stop.

The scene changed and she was back with Black Dranzer, his wings now completely surrounding her as if to embrace her.

"_Do you want it to stop? I can do it if you wish, make you feel nothing rather then the pain you feel now." _ He asked.

"M...Make it stop….I-I-I don't think I can take it. Please make it go away!!!" she screamed as more tears fell.

"_As you wish…."_ He replied touching his beak to her chest. She felt her self being lifted up energy swirling around her. Black feathered wings grew from her back and suddenly she was back where she once stood.

Only this time it wasn't Maria who looked on in darkness, they were one. Body and soul. Maria's body and Black Dranzer's soul. Together as one.

A smile formed on her lips.

Monitors were going off everywhere, readings from different places all saying the exact same thing. He would finally get to see the results of all his hard work come to life before his eyes.

The tank before him began to crack, the power inside growing too powerful to contain.

Computer screens began to explode around him, and people started running out. But still he didn't move.

He began to laugh, almost an insane kind of laugh. As the tank finally reaching critical mass burst. The water inside flowing out soaking his shoes, but he didn't care.

There standing before him, was the birth of a new kind of beybladder. Of combination of human and beast. The ultimate bladder.

He smiled. "Come! Stretch your new wings! Together we will show the world your power then it will belong to the Biovolt Company."

In the shadows a boy with red hair looked on in shock. He knew what one of these things ment, but with two.

'This is not good. I have to tell the bladebreakers before it's too late.' He turned and quietly slipped out the way he came.

Dread filled his heart at the thought of telling them, that their best friend was now their most powerful enemy.

After meeting up with Brian and Spencer, he relayed his orders to continue watching them and to tell him immediately if anything changed, he went to his room and quickly dialed the number to Tyson's.

Hilary picked up on the second ring. "Hello?", "its Tala put me on speaker."

He heard a click, "Tala what is it?" asked ray from the other end. "It's Biovolt. They've made their move." He said simply.

"explain." Said kai in what seemed to be an angry tone. In the end Tala lost his nerve and decided it would be better to break the news in person.

"I can't say over the phone. I'm flying over tonight." He stated.

He heard them release a deep tired sigh, "Tala, before you hang up, we have some news you should also know." Said Hilary

"What is it?" he asked curiously. "Maria is dead." Replied a very tired sounding Rena. Tala clutched the phone, "We'll talk more when I get there." He stated before hanging up.

He ran out the door straight towards the air port. 'Something's not right. What is he planning?' he thought grimly.


	5. Pieces to the puzzle

Chapter 5- Pieces to the Puzzle

Everyone turned towards the voice, standing in the door way in her teddy bear pj's was Rena. Her eyes had dark bags that showed she was more exhausted then she let on,

Her skin was pale and her cheeks were flushed from the high fever she was no running.

"Rain, you should go back to bed your fever still hasn't broken yet." Said Mariah walking towards her.

Rena just crossed her arms and sent a glare that said she was in no mood for pity, which alone made all of them turn their heads, for fear of encoring her wrath.

"She's not dead." Stated Tyson balling his fists, "Tyson…" sighed Hilary putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Tyson, we all want to believe that. But its just not how things are." Said Lee sternly, "No! I know she isn't! Maybe Rena saw it wrong, I mean that's gotta be it." He shouted shooting out of his seat, tears touching the corners of his eyes.

A sudden laughter came from this; it wasn't a heartfelt one at all more like laughter of disbelieve. Catching her breath Rena replied,

"Hehehe somehow I doubt that. Whether we like it or not, Maria _is_ dea-"her sentence cut short as a sharp pain shot through her brain and down her body.

"Rena? What is it?" Ray asked worry crossing his face, "I-its nothing. J-just a headache." She replied griping her head.

Ray started to go towards her, "Ray, stop. Don't go all over-protective-brother on me now." She replied leaning against the wall.

"But think about what I said, i`m going back to bed. Wake me when Tala gets here." She said quickly walking back through the door to the room she was occupying.

And once again they were covered in a blanket of silence. They were either too anxious to sleep (minus Rena, who slept soundly in the other room and Kenny who was still doing his system search.)

Or still depressed by their friends suddenly death.

Kai got up and walked outside, Michael took this opportunity to ask him something that had been bugging him for a while, so he followed. No one bothered to ask why.

Kai looked up at the sky, it was nearly dawn and the last remaining stars were starting to fade. "kai." came a voice from behind him.

He turned to see Michael standing there, "What happened after I left yesterday?" he asked calmly.

Kai turned away, "I forced her into that situation. I lost control and scared her, its my fault she ran away." He replied clenching his fists.

"Kai, you couldn't have known what would of happened. Don't blame yourself, Rena was right, as much as we don't want it to be true. She is gone, and now with Biovolt on the move we can't stay all depressed." He said sternly.

"If that's the truth then the news I bring will only make things worse." Said a voice from behind them, Tala.

'Michael's right, I have to be focused now. Especially with my dear grandfather on the move again.' he thought silently walking back inside, Tala and Michael following behind.

After that exactly two things happened; one Kenny suddenly jumped up and yelled that he had "found it", and two Kai, Tala, and Michael walked inside.

Both occurrences caused anyone who was partially awake to now be fully, and anyone who was awake a severe heart attack.

"Geeze chief. Don't do that!" said Tyson pushing himself into a sitting position from when he toppled over.

"Sorry guys. But I found what they stole, I noticed that a copy of some of my recent work was made and I just connected the dots." He said triumphantly.

"What were you working on chief?" asked Emily, "well, I was actually doing some research in human and bitbeast biogenetics.

Put simply it's basically a way of combining humans and bitbeasts into one. But I reached a dead end in the study so I filed it away. I wonder why that thing would want that?" Kenny thought out loud.

"I may have an answer for that Kenny." Said Tala, then they all connected the dots and one word went through all of their minds.

'Biovolt.'

"Biovolt is using Kenny's and another scientist's research to create a new kind of weapon, the body of a person and the soul and power of a bitbeast. So far they've only been able to create two of these things." He replied.

"What person could possibly study such a subject then actually bring it to life?" asked Emily glaring at Kenny.

"A person named Hitoshi Kimihiro." Replied Tala. At this everyone perked up, "y...you mean Maria's father?" asked Hilary.

Tala nodded, "but didn't he die like six years ago?" asked Mariah. "That's the official story, but in actuality he vanished off the face of the planet after his marriage to a Veronica Charles didn't work out." Tala replied.

"No way! That's that lady she was yelling at yesterday." Said Rick. They gave him confused looks so he began to tell them what had occurred at the BBA the day before.

"I'll tell ya, it was some weird stuff. She was saying a whole bunch of stuff in a language i`ve never even heard." He concluded. Tala intrigued asked, "what did she say?"

"Umm…I was something like 'Sa-i vina' I think." He replied. "Hmm I see." Was all Tala said in response.

"what? What does it mean?" asked Lee slightly annoyed. A sigh was heard, "it means 'its her fault.'" replied Rena leaning against a wall.

She looked worse then the night before. Her legs kept shaking and her eyes were red from what they could only assume was crying. She held a blanked tightly wrapped around her shoulders and a stuffed cat she cutely called 'Shiro'.

A shiver was sent down each of their spines as they remembered what they obviously forgot to do. And unfortunately her mood hadn't gotten any better from the night before.

"Relax guys; just get me some ice for my head and I'll try not to murder you." She said walking over to a corner and sitting down.

While Hilary got the ice Tala continued, "It's not only that that worries me. I didn't get a good look at who it was but I know the newest one is combined with Black Dranzer." He finished grimly.

Hilary returned and gave the ice to Rena; she didn't move to take the bag. She just continued to sit there rubbing her head.

Against Hilary's better judgment she placed a hand on Rena's shoulder to get her attention. The second she did, Rena shot out of her seat and backed away from her.

"Rena? What's wrong?" asked a now very concerned Ray. "Screaming…words…." She whispered.

"What? What are you talking about?" asked Lee walking towards her. She backed away till her back touched the door.

"Stay…stay back! Ahhhh!! It's coming!!" she yelled holding her head. "What?! What's coming?" replied Ray.

Suddenly they got their answer as two black feathered wings crashed through the door and arms grabbed Rena around the waist.

The creature took a step back and with Rena flew away.

Her name being shouted was the last thing she heard before she passed out.

**_wow, well yeah srry its kinda short im literally at a loss for words for this one. well R&R good and bad are accepted. I own NOTHING!!!_**


	6. Discovery

Chapter 6- Discovery

She remembered passing out as she was carried away, by….. Something evil, something not human.

That fact alone was scary. But what scared her the most was that this "thing" seemed familiar in a way.

Suddenly her body hit something hard; she opened her eyes to find that she was by the river now.

'Why….' She thought. She got her answer sooner than expected as "it" landed not more then a few feet ahead of her.

Standing there wearing a black shirt that stopped just before her stomach over that she wore a black fish net jacket that tied together at her neck and went down to the bottom of her also black jeans.

What was stranger still about this person was that Rena couldn't see their eyes. She had a white metal blindfold covering them, with also very familiar raven black hair framing her face and extending down to her waist.

What she could see was what looked like a tattoo of a black claw extending from her back to her stomach. Big black feathered wings folded into her back as she stood before her.

Rena quickly snapped out of her daze and glared at this mysterious stranger. "Why did you bring me here?" she said putting as much malice into her voice as possible.

The stranger smiled. "Now now, no need to act stupid Rena. You've seen what is to occur next. I am your angel of death my dear…" she finished in an inhuman voice that sounded sickeningly velvety.

Rena narrowed her eyes, "if you wanted to battle me, you really didn't have to go this far. Besides….. I control my destiny, not you." She said sternly standing up and taking her blading position.

She just smiled and also took her stance. "Before we begin, I would like to know the name of my opponent." Rena stated.

"You can call me….. Black phoenix…" she replied simply. Silently they both counted down then released their blades.

Silver colliding with black, both hitting one another with a force so powerful it blew both blades back towards their bladers.

"Go Raiden! Show this loser what its like to battle the silver tiger!" she yelled as he blade went charging towards Black Phoenix's.

Black phoenix just continued smiling as her blade easily dodged Raiden's attack. Rena ground her teeth in frustration.

'It's just like before with the boy. Only…. This power i`m sensing, it's so familiar. Where have I felt it before…' she thought quickly as her blade and Black phoenix's crashed together, with Raiden quickly being over powered.

"Rena!!!" she was abruptly brought from her thoughts as a voice called out to her, turning she saw Ray and the others running up towards her.

They all stopped cold as they saw her opponent, Ray having ignored his better judgment continued running forward; only to be stopped by a wall of fire, seeming to appear out of nowhere.

'Ray….'Rena thought worriedly, "hehehe now we don't wanna anyone interfering in our little match do we, Rena?" Black phoenix said still smiling.

Rena narrowed her eyes dangerously, "enough talk! Raiden, take her out now!" Rena cried. The skies darkened and thunder rolled in the background.

"Thunder Fang!" she yelled as a silver tiger rose from her blade, bearing his fangs he came towards Black phoenix's blade.

"I think its time we ended this, Black Dranzer, Dark blaze!" She cried as her wings unfolded from her back. She flew high into the air then came back down in a fiery blaze headed straight for….Ray!

'No…' Realizing this Rena jumped in front of him protecting him from the blast; Raiden did his best to protect her, but failed as he ran out of strength and faded back into his blade, muttering a silent apology.

Still Black Phoenix kept up her attack, Rena now using nothing but her body to protect Ray she was easily blown to the side.

Her body hit the side of the nearby bridge with a _crack,_ and then landed back on the ground. She tasted blood and she tried to stand up, but her body wouldn't support her and she fell back to the ground, slowly losing consciousness. 

"RENA!!!" a distant voice she wasn't able to decipher whose, "W…Why?" was the only thing she could get out.

Black Phoenix just laughed, "Because little one…. You were in the way." She lifted Rena up by the hair so that she was looking into her face. "And you know what?" she asked removing her blindfold.

Rena gasped at the sight. "No…It can't….be…" was all she said before she lost consciousness.

Black Phoenix just raised an eyebrow at the now unconscious girl, smiling she let her drop to the ground and stood up. Running was heard behind her, no doubt the Bladebreakers.

She continued to stare at the crumpled girl at her feet as the footsteps slowly came to a halt. "Hey! Who are you?" Tyson yelled, quickly getting to the point.

She smiled as she replied, "Awww Tyson, i`m hurt. Did you all really forget me that quickly?", "What are you talking about?" asked a steely voiced Lee.

Black Phoenix turned to face them; their eyes went wide as realization hit them like a truck. Standing there in front of them was Maria! Her eyes once a deep blue, now were a horrible black tar color.

Her eyes went wide as they met amethyst and they turned a deep blue again. Holding her head, she slowly backed away from them, tears making their way down her cheeks.

The change in color certainly didn't go unnoticed by the Russian bladers. Kai stepped forward, "Maria?" he asked cautiously,

"No…" it was barely a whisper. He took a step towards her, "Stay back!" she yelled, "T…this isn't what I wanted…" she stammered.

She collapsed to the ground in a crying, shaking heap. Kai took this moment to take another step towards her. A strong wind stopped his actions, when it died some he looked to see the boy with the Blood-eyes blocking his path.

The boy no longer wore his hood; they all now saw his face. His short black hair, his dark empty eyes.

"You…" he said angrily. Ignoring Kai he walked over to Maria's shaking form, and swiftly kicked her in the stomach. Kai's eyes went wide; the boy walked over to her now still body and picked her up.

Turning he smiled at still shocked Bladebreakers, Kai glared holes into his face. "Sorry you had to see that, she's still learning.", "Who are you?!" Kai said his voice full of malice.

The boy turned to face kai, "You may call me, Bane. Remember it, Kai Hiwatari." He replied with as much malice.

Kai's eyes widened, narrowing them he replied "how do you know my name?" Bane smiled, "I know everything there is to know about you kai." Kai growled at his condescending tone.

Tala stepped forward then, "What is Voltaire planning?" he asked glaring at him. Bane laughed long, and hard.

They all gave each other confused looks, "What's so funny?!" asked Tyson loosing his patience.

"Hehehe you're looking at his plan you fools! We were created solely to lead his army of bladers into the new world. A world in which he is our supreme master!" he replied almost hysterically.

Tyson scoffed, "As if we'd ever let that happen. Now give us back our friend and maybe we won't hurt you that bad." He replied taking his blading stance with everyone else following suit.

Tala and kai jumped in front of them, "No! You all saw what she did to Rena, they're to powerful. Besides he isn't out top priority right now. We've got to focus on getting Rena to a hospital."

Sad looks crossed their faces, and they lowered their blades. Tyson didn't move though.

"Tyson….." Tala growled, "I'm not leaving a friend behind!" he replied gripping his lancher tighter.

"Tyson they're to powerful for even you to take on, you know that!" Tala reasoned. Still he didn't move.

"TYSON!! Tala is right, Rena is our top priority right now, lower your blade." Yelled kai. They all turned to look at him; he stood there his gray bangs hiding his expression.

Velvety laughter erupted from behind him; kai turned and saw the face that would eventually haunt his nightmares.

Maria was now standing before him, her blue orbs once again black abysses. "How sad… would you truly forget someone who holds something so precious so quickly kai?" Her mouth was smiling, though her eyes said she was very serious.

Kai glared at her, "you're not Maria, what's your real name?" he asked dreading the answer.

Maria narrowed her eyes, "you know my name Kai Hiwatari. Do not forget, for once we battled as partners. Now we will battle as enemies. Until then….." was her reply as a great wind blew sending dust flying everywhere.

When they were able to see, Maria and Bane were gone.


	7. Loved and Lost

Chapter 7-

Tala turned to kai, then back towards the spot where Rena still lay. "Come on, lets her to a hospital. We've lost too much already."

Ray was already way ahead of them; he was already bending down to pick her up. What he saw nearly made his heart stop.

Blood was dripping from her head and from cuts all over her body. Faint burn marks still remained on her arms and worse still; her lips had taken a blue tint, and her skin was as white as paper and cold to the touch.

"We've got to get her there fast, she's not breathing guys." They all nodded and as Ray picked her up and ran as fast as he could, silently hoping they weren't too late.

It seemed like they were waiting for an eternity, when they got to the hospital Ray watched as they took Rena place her on a stretcher and wheel her away behind swinging doors.

Now they were sitting in the waiting room, waiting, sleeping, and pacing. *cough Tyson and Lee cough*

Finally a doctor clad in white walked up to them, "Are you the people who brought in the young girl?" Ray nodded. "Don't worry she's fine, but she suffered some major head trauma and some minor burns along her body."

Ray gripped Raiden, "Is she ok? Can we see her?" asked Tyson impatiently. The doctor nodded and led them through the swinging doors.

After walking through endless hallways they finally came upon a door with 'Rena Kon' written on the plaque.

A nurse stepped out of the room gave them an apologetic look and quickly walked down the hall. Everyone could tell something was off.

When they walked into the room there was a single bed sitting in the middle of the room, covered from view by a curtain. When the doctor opened it Ray's heart nearly stopped

There was his little sister lying on the bed covered in bandages from the neck down. Her hair spread out along the pillow beneath her head, her eyes wrapped in bandages.

It was silent except for the heavy beeping of the heart monitor. Ray slowly walked up to the bed that now held his silent sister.

He took her hand, tears creeping up at the corners of his eyes; he slipped Raiden into her cold palm, silently whispering for him to give her the strength to pull through.

"Will she be OK?" he said stroking her hand, the doctor sighed. "We won't know the extent of her injuries until she wakes up."

It was some time before any of them actually said anything, so they just sat there in complete silence. Ray sat at her side, holding her hand giving it little squeezes just to make sure she was still alive.

Finally Lee walked towards him and placed his hand hand on Ray's shoulder, he turned "She'll be ok, shes to stubborn not to be." Ray sighed and turned back to Rena "its not that, I just... We could have done something! Anything, instead..."

He turned back towards Lee, "I'm her big brother i'm supposed to protect her from stuff like this. Now look at her she might never blade again because I didn't do anything but watch!" he yelled finally losing his composure.

"Its not anyones fault Ray. It just happened." said Mariah grabbing his arm. "Their right you know. But right now I think we should focus on those bladers that attacked her, they are our biggest threat right now." stated Tala

The door suddenly slammed shut, they all knew who had left.

Kai stood in the empty hallway his hands shaking from anger and the realization that he would soon have to fight the person he held most dear. 'Its my fault shes like this, if I hadn't of let her leave _he_ wouldn't have gotten his rotten hands on her.'

He punched the wall in front of him with all his might not caring who saw him, her black empty eyes flashing through his mind. Then something else... he remembered how she reacted when she saw him...'what did she say again??'

"_No...this isn't what I wanted..._" he wasn't sure what that could mean but the look in her eyes was all the explanation he needed. 'Shes definitely still in there. I know it!' he thought as he walked towards the lobby to make a phone call.


End file.
